A writer, author, photographer, and expert on regional cuisines, Sally travels the globe bringing you tales from the hinterlands. She specializes in Mexico, the Southwest, and New Mexico, areas she knows and loves.

Welcome to my blog!

I am the author of two guidebooks on off-the-beaten-path New Mexico: Country Roads of New Mexico and Back Roads and Byways of New Mexico. I delved into our well-loved cuisine in Culinary New Mexico, which covers topics from area restaurants to where to find the freshest tortillas. My philosophy is to discover and pass on the true spirit of the Land of Enchantment instead of dwelling on the well-acclaimed tourist spots.

If you have comments on postings or if you have questions on food and travel in the Southwest, email me at salmoore@me.com.

Friday, October 3, 2008

Conference on Creative Tourism

In the first global gathering of its kind, delegates from around the world met in Santa Fe this week to explore the concept of Creative Tourism. The comprehensive program included talks, seminars, and interaction with Santa Fe artists, musicians, filmmakers, photographers, craftspeople, and business experts.

What is creative tourism? The definition developed cooperatively by UNESCO’s Creative Cities is “engaging travelers in a community’s culture through active participation which provides the visitor an authentic experience of a community’s heritage”. The goal is to promote the social, economic, and cultural development of municipalities in both the developed and developing world.

Why did UNESCO choose the city format?

1. Cities harbor the entire range of cultural actors throughout the creative industry chain from the creative act to production and distribution.2. As breeding grounds for creative clusters, cities have great potential to harness creativity, and connecting cities can mobilize this potential for global impact3. Cities are small enough to affect local cultural industries but also large enough to serve as gateways to international markets.

Santa Fe holds the distinction of being the only Creative City in the U.S., joining Aswan, Berlin, Bologna, Buenos Aires, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Lyon, Melbourne, Montreal, Popayan, Columbia, and Seville.

I was able to attend the Wednesday session, and in the following days, I will discuss our roundtable on Gastronomy, which attracted delegates from Japan, France, Santiago de Compostela, Barcelona, Bologna, as well as several of us New Mexicans.

In addition, I hope to share with you ideas from a fascinating lunch speaker, Geoffrey Godbey, a specialist on re-positioning of leisure and tourism services for the future.